Ever since I started going to the South Pasadena Farmer’s Market I have been intrigued by a restaurant lurking behind the stalls, going by the name of Communal. It seemed to be the type of neighborhood spot with solid food that would keep locals coming back for more. Obviously, though, I didn’t want to judge book by it’s cover and had to find out for myself.

As is often my test of such spots, I ordered their burger. They only had one and it was called the Communal Burger. It was prepared with dry-aged beef and topped with remoulade, caramelized onions, aged cheddar and pickles. Of course, I had no need for the pickles or onions and ordered without. It also had fries.

They also make a good bacon and cheddar biscuit.

The result was pretty much everything I expected. The burger was certainly solid and, dare I say, above average in preparation and simplicity. The fries were fry-ish and that was really all I could ask for. I’m not sure how I feel about the bun being branded, but I’m not about to get overly shallow with a situation like this.

There are plenty of better burgers out there, but there are a whole lot more worse. In that, Communal succeeded if its goal was to do just more than enough to keep the locals from becoming restless.